Here's Why US News Could Disappear From Facebook

Meta is not too happy about a proposed law that would force it to pay news outlets and publishers whose content appears on Facebook. Spokesperson Andy Stone tweeted an official statement that claims the government is "creating a cartel-like entity which requires one private company to subsidize other private companies." At the heart of Meta's discomfort is the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), which seeks to enable media outlets in demanding a fair compensation for their content that appears in places like Facebook's news feed.

The company says if Congress goes ahead with "an ill-considered journalism bill," Meta will be "forced" to remove any news on the home feed (or in general), rather than agree to the terms. The Mark Zuckerberg-led company argues that it is Meta that extends value to the news outlets via traffic and subscriptions. The company further adds that it is news outlets that put their content on Meta's social media platforms for their own benefit.

Meta reasons that it doesn't make any sense form a revenue standpoint that it should pay for content that users theoretically don't want to see. But it appears that Meta won't have much luck this time around. Citing unnamed sources, Reuters reports that lawmakers are mulling inclusion of the JCPA into "a must-pass annual defense bill" that aims to save the news industry. On behalf of news publishers, The News Media Alliance classified Meta's threat as "undemocratic and unbecoming." Facebook briefly implemented its threat in Australia, but soon relented.

In August this year, Senator Amy Klobuchar spearheaded a revised version of the JCPA proposal. The core objective is to let local newsrooms negotiate a fair deal with social media titans like Meta for using their content and generating traffic that fills the tech giants' coffers. A month later, the House Judiciary Committee passed the bipartisan legislation, and it is now inching closer to becoming a law.

Klobuchar says JCPA "ensures media outlets will be able to band together and negotiate for fair compensation from the Big Tech companies." The idea here is to let non-network outlets and media publishers that employ less than 1,500 people demand a reasonable compensation. So far, no standard deal exists that allows new outlets — especially small-scale news publishers — to demand a share of the revenue that comes from user engagement on these platforms. 

The Senator has repeatedly argued that local news journalism is dying as people are flocking to social media for getting their news — due to which local communities are turning into "news deserts." On the platform side, the proposal covers social media brands that have over 50 million active users in the U.S., over a billion users globally, or one that commands a net market capitalization of $550 billion or higher. Moreover, there is also scope for creating federal and antitrust safety nets for the participating news outlets, while also making sure that no discrimination or bias creeps in when inking deals.